OK I respect the fact that the 'Nooks got up 2-0 early. But why step off the gas??? If you can shove it down their throats, do so! As soon as the guys got the second goal, 4 of the cylinders in the hemi v8 cut out and all of a sudden it's sluggish hockey. Shots were 6-1 Alaska with about 6 minutes to go in the period, and they get the next 3 including a goal on a rebound.
That theme continued through the start of the second period as Northern tied the game until Luke Eibler railed Garrick Perry into the boards. He was a bit slow to get up, but the 'Nooks responded, picked it up and got northern on their heels and forced them to take a couple of bad penalties in a row as the 'Nooks banged home a pair of 5 on 3 power play goals for the 4-2 lead and tallied a 3rd as Hochhausen notches the 1st of his career on a great steal at center ice by Huysmans coupled with some smooth stick handling in the zone for the setup.
But the Wildcats got on their toes and set up for an interesting ride as they closed the gap with two goals off of two miscues by the 'Nooks. One on an extended possession by Northern as they used puck control and safe passing to wear out the defense and forced them to over-pursue the puck carrier. As a player it's a difficult situation to be in after you've already been out there for 2 minutes and you're trying to defend a 3-2 shell, you can only take away the lanes for so long before you have to try and make a defensive play to clear it. Unfortunately that didn't swing in the 'Nooks favor as they got a puck through that pin balled into the goal.
Then a costly penalty to Erickson late had them pull to within a goal but the D held strong and played well enough in front of Keeney late to help him out.
Nice win for the boys tonight. I was impressed with the scoring but a little disappointed in the lack of consistent effort throughout the game. If you let off the throttle, you open the door for them to climb back in and that's exactly what happened tonight. Twice. Let's hope the boys can put 'em down hard tomorrow and get a sweep on parents' weekend!
'Nooks are now 4-0-0 on Fridays. 3-0-2 at home, 4-1-2 overall.
Hajdukovich, Hochhausen, Brandon Morley, and Jared Linnell all notched their first career points this evening.
Cody Kunyk remains at 98 points for his career. Thought he had an assist on Beck's goal but they changed it to Parayko. Probably because he's taller.
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